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T O P I C R E V I E W

Hart Sastrowardoyo

Came across some documentation for STS-61-K and STS-61-I, and I have one more (STS-61-L) whose cover I have to scan. I know there's documentation on 61J and 61M (the document lists it as 61M(T) and the seller claims that morphed into the STS-26R Return to Flight; I had never seen the 61M(T) designation before.)

Anyway, who else has similar documents? I've seen them for 61F and G, I would like to see one for 61H and 62A. They must exist somewhere - according to one of the distribution lists on the back of one of the FDFs, 600 copies were printed, so it's hard to believe they all got thrown out.

heng44

STS-61M(T) was a 56-hour simulation of a Shuttle flight involving a TDRS-deployment by astronauts Coats, Blaha, Buchli, Fisher and Springer. It was held 27-30 April 1987, as part of the return to flight activities leading to STS-26. During the sim the crew faced more computer-simulated malfunctions than would occur in 10 actual Shuttle flights.

cspg

What about the carrots?

heng44

An ongoing joke that crew trainers played on this crew involved carrots and their symbolic role as culinary rewards.

Hart Sastrowardoyo

Yeah, I found the NASA release that the simulation was to deploy a TDRS similar to the one for the Return to Flight, but not use the RTF crew. The next mission to deploy the TDRS after 51L was 61M, and I guess since it was a training exercise, that's why the nomenclature 61M(T).

Part of my confusion is that, apparently, NASA was still using the alphanumeric mission designation at least until September 1986, because there was a Flight Requirement Document issued with STS 61-M, and an earlier version, dated July, has 61M with a targeted launch date of July 15, 1987 and Discovery as the orbiter.

While I don't have these on hand, these clearly pertain to the Return to Flight and not the original 61M mission.

Anyway, I put up a write up of the 61L document. I've been debating as to whether or not to scan all pages, but I don't want someone to just be able to grab them if they're doing research, or make facsimile copies.

I put in a bid for the 61J documents.

Greggy_D

I asked Bob Springer where the crew slept during the 61M(T) test. I was thinking maybe upright in their seats on flat on the floor in sleep restraints, since they would want the test to reflect actual in-flight conditions. He replied, "Nah, they brought in Army cots for us."

Hart Sastrowardoyo

From JSC release 87-020: "Flight controllers will support the simulation around-the-clock in MCC, but the flight crew will not remain in the SMS during sleep periods."

Apparently they did the same thing when it came time for the 26R crew to do the same type of simulation.

Hart Sastrowardoyo

I picked up a lot of 10 documents related to Mission 61H. Sadly, little to no mention of the Indonesian experiments (INSPEX).

But there was an A-ha! moment. One of the documents was titled "STS-61-H(37)." I was puzzling over that and then realized Mission 61H was also STS-37. Which makes sense, following the sequence 51L=33, 61E=34, 61F= 35 and 61G=36. And the documents related to 61H had 37 as the last two numbers.

I checked two of my other canceled flight documents and they end in 42 and 41 - although interestingly enough, STS-41 was slated to fly after STS-42.

More later as I go through them.

Hart Sastrowardoyo

Picked up a copy of "Space Transportation System - Space Shuttle Payload Flight Assignments," dated November 1985, a 8-1/2 x 11 NASA version of Morton Thiokol's smaller booklet (I believe, as the printing is similar to an earlier MT booklet.)

This is probably the latest planned shuttle manifest prior to Challenger, and lists known flight crews up to Mission 71D, although the flight schedule goes to Mission 82B (STS-5V) and Mission 81N (STS-72!)

Among other neat things found: having two shuttles in orbit at the same time on more than one occasion, not only for a VAFB and a KSC launch, but for two KSC launches (just one example: 81K launching on a seven day mission on June 8, 1988, and 81L launching in a seven day mission on June 14.)

Possibly, 81K would have landed just before 81L's launch, but what happened if 81K was delayed a few orbits or a day?

Other neat things: More Spacelab launches (including Sunlab 1, 2 and 3, as well as Spacelab D-4 - oddly, Spacelab D-3 was not manifested); the "Hub Sp Tel Ret" flight - I assume this was a retrieval flight for repair, and not to bring it to Earth; and a 99-degree inclination for Mission 82B (STS-5V), for the Cosmic Background Explorer deployment.

Ah, what could have been, what could have been....

astro-nut

Is there any way that you could post the scheduled flights here on collectSPACE? I am interested in the Spacelab and Sunlab missions.

Hart Sastrowardoyo

When I get a chance I'll post to my Flickr account with a link, but:

Mission 61K/STS-42: Oct. 27, 1986: EOM-1/2 on Atlantis (SM+1P+MP)

71A/STS-45: Jan. 12, 1987: ASTRO-2 on Atlantis (IG+2P)

71E/STS-48: Mar. 16, 1987: SLS-1 on Atlantis (LM) - this is the long delayed Spacelab 4/Mission 61D, postponed from January 1986

71I/STS-52: May 27, 1987: IML-1 on Columbia (LM)

71M/STS-56: Aug. 18, 1987: ASTRO-3 on Challenger (IG+2P)

71O/STS-58: Sept. 28, 1987: SUNLAB-1 on Columbia (IG+1P)

81F/STS-64: Feb. 2, 1988: EOM-3 on Columbia (IG+1P)

81G/STS-65: Feb. 23, 1988: Spacelab-J on Challenger (LM)

81M/STS-71: Jul. 20, 1988: SLS-2 on Challenger (LM)

As for other SL flights booked but not firmly manifested: Spacelab D-2, for a Sept. 1988 flight; Spacelab D-4, for Oct. 1988.

There were EOM 4 through 12 planned; a second IML; SLS-3 and 4; SOT-1, a solar optical telescope using an IG+2P; and two flights of SP Plasma, the space plasma laboratory using an IG+1P (first flight) and an IG+2P on the second flight, as well as SUNLAB 2 and 3, all of which were not given definite shuttle flights.

They can be seen here. I scanned the manifested flights, haven't gotten to the booked but unmanifested ones.

Also picked up the other day copies of the FDFs for STS-61-F and 61-G. Haven't a chance to read them yet, just flipped through them. There's some interesting stuff in them!

Hart Sastrowardoyo

After a three-year wait(!), I got back my 61L Flight Requirements Document signed by John Konrad, the only crewmember definitively manifested for that flight.

kyra

Hart, These are historic and worth something as information to serious researchers, but I wouldn't worry about facsimile copies of unflown documents especially on missions that didn't fly.

The cost of printing onto high quality paper and cardstock to make a facsimile plus the cost of listing and shipping would not be a very lucrative cottage industry. For later shuttle flights NASA pdfs would make it easy to make a "flown forgery" but even this has never happened. The field is policed too well and the general demand for FDF documents outside M-G-A and the first dozen or so shuttle missions is very low.

Most FDF and other technical documents are not out on the web mostly because of the effort to scan them exceeds general interest. This is a tough situation for those who want access and to preserve the information and the value of the original object or document is a secondary matter.

And yes, most of these ended up in trash cans 30 years ago I have witnesses.

Hart Sastrowardoyo

I'm less worried about resale value than someone grabbing them off the web for research purposes. Yes, I'm not the author, but as you pointed out, it is a tremendous effort to scan them and then not even get acknowledged - although one space writer/historian has put something to the effect of "scanned by XXX" on the bottom of the shuttle press kits available on the web - would irk me.

Only one time have I scanned a complete set of canceled shuttle documents, and then it was 1)because it consisted of only two books - that is, I had only two books for that flight - and 2)because an astronaut I met mentioned they didn't have a copy of it. But even then, that didn't get placed on the web, but went as an email to them.